Heritage hike, Dino Museum and Bluff.

Going back to the good old days we took the kids to where Daver popped the question. We climbed the tower, sat in a covered wagon and played in a tepee.

When we told Chandler the Hogon was a house it looked at us like we were crazy. He still had a good time pretending it was his home.

Annual trip to the Dinosaur Museum. Last time we were down Chandler could not stop talking about it. It nearly drove us crazy. That kid loves Dinosaurs and Grandma makes our trip so much more fun.

After the Dinosaur Museum we headed to Bluff. First we had a yummy lunch at Twin Rocks and then went over to the visitors center. Brinlee taught us a little something, Chandler tried to escape to the old Bluff Fort and we gained a greater respect for the Hole in the Rock Pioneers (if you don't know about their journey YOU NEED TO LOOK IT UP).

See that crack just above the "This is where we hiked to" caption?
Well that is where we hiked to (duh).

Lewis Lodge

Since we have been married David has always wanted to take me out to Lewis Lodge. I have usually been pregnant so it hasn't worked out. Well this trip was perfect for the hike. It wasn't too hot and I am not preggers (the perfect combinations for hiking).
Starting out the hike you are not quite sure where you are going to end up. We scaled some slick rock and ended up looking in to a giant canyon (top left). This is the point where I say "Where is the ruin?" and David laughs and says "In that tiny crack."
Standing there looking at the canyon we both felt so small in comparison. I thought that once we got into the ruin we would be far from the cliffs. Was I wrong! Straight plummet to DEATH(bottom right)! What in the world were the Anazi people thinking? And how did they build in such tight places on the faces of cliff? What did they do with their children?
P.S. ours were on top with Grandpa and Grandma

The Anazi people were truly insane as well as incredible builders. Even after years of weathering the Kiva was in pretty good shape and still had most of it's roof in tacked. The only thing that was strange is there were no petroglyphs. We had a great time and there was no crying.

Hovenweep

About 40 miles south east of Blanding is Hovenweep National Monument. In the middle of nowhere is a little canyon full of ancient ruins. It is a cool place and an easy hike to see some history. Curtis and Kristin were able to come with us and we had a blast. The Anazai people were incredible builders(and a little crazy with their cliff dwellings). Building round buildings out of sandstone perfectly straight with no modern tools is amazing.

At the beginning of our adventure the kids were asked to participate in the Jr. Ranger program. They had to complete a number of tasks such as: connect the dots activities, decorating pots ect. Chandler chose to do the connect the dots activity and circled all of the number fives and drew a big letter A. He is a real overachiever.
When we finished our hike we went back to the rangers station where the kids were sworn in as Jr. Rangers. It was so cute and they were all so proud of themselves.

Jr. Rangers Chandler, Ethan, Maggie and Ben.

If you are ever down south you should head on over to Hovenweep.

Arches National Park

Arches is really an incredible place. I had never been their in all of my years of being from Utah and really wanted to go. Dave had been a few times and didn't mind taking another trip into the park. First we stopped for quick potty breaks and water refills at the visitors center and then we were off.

There are so many cool things to see. The middle picture is a place called down town(or something like that) it really looks like a city. The arch at the bottom is the arch Daver hiked/ran in to. I should have known I would love it so much since Monument Valley is one of my most favorite places in the world.

Against better judgement, the advice of the in laws and common sense we decided to hike to Delicate Arch with the kids. It was hot, they were tired and we didn't have the patience to make it all of the way. At the half way point(you know right before you start going straight up hill on the face of red rock) David says "I will just take the kids back to the car, drive around and come back to get you." Really? So big mama hiked to the arch by herself and enjoyed every minute of it. It really is amazing, and I am so glad I did it. Thanks David for being such a stud and taking the kiddos!